Raiders’ Dance attacks Rams to finish remarkable season with victory in third-place game

PEORIA, Ill. — Tyler Dance didn’t like it, but he didn’t fret over it.

He simply worked through it.

That’s what an ace does.

Staked to a one-run lead following the top of the first inning of Saturday’s Class 2A third-place game at Dozer Park, the Quincy Notre Dame senior right-hander saw the DePaul College Prep baseball team collect three singles in its first four at-bats. Couple those with an error and the Rams flipped a one-run deficit into a one-run lead going to the second inning.

“I gave them up,” Dance said. “I didn’t want to obviously, but it happens. You have to go back to work. You can’t let that bother you. So I cleared my head in the dugout between innings and went back after them and showed them what I had.”

What he attacked the Rams with was unbeatable.

Dance limited DePaul College Prep to three hits over the final six innings, navigating around runners in scoring position in the seventh inning to finish off a 7-2 victory. It punctuated the Raiders’ 36-2 season — the winningest season in program history — and sent them home with the third state trophy in program history.

“I hope we go in the Hall of Fame someday,” Dance said. “People are definitely going to remember this team.”

They need to remember Dance, too.

His complete-effort was his fourth this postseason as he limited the Rams to six hits, while striking out four, walking three and throwing 101 pitches. In four postseason starts spanning 26 innings, the John Wood Community College signee allowed two earned runs, one unearned run and 12 hits with 19 strikeouts and eight walks.

It cemented one of the best prep seasons ever in this area.

Dance went 11-0 with a 0.87 ERA, striking out 70 and walking 26 over 60 innings. Over the past two seasons, he fashioned a 16-0 record with 120 strikeouts, 53 walks and a 1.05 ERA.

He isn’t the only one who had a season or a career to remember. Jake Schisler, the right-handed starter who went 8-2 with a 0.82 ERA as a junior, moved into the leadoff spot in the order as a senior and hit .440 with 64 runs scored and 33 stolen bases. Schisler also went 8-1 with a 1.39 ERA and 56 strikeouts over 50 ⅓ innings.

First baseman Dalton Miller hit .474 with eight home runs and 60 RBIs. Five other starters hit .364 or better. Defensively, they all made plays, highlighted by a pair of diving grabs by senior shortstop Jack Linenfelser in the victory against DePaul.

It’s why Dance kept saying this was the best collection of talent he’d been around.

“This team is special,” Dance said. “This team made memories that were special.”